Hours after the new staff got its first commitment, Jarvis Haywood, a shooting guard who led Jacksonville University in scoring this past season, announced via Twitter he will join the Seahawks. The 6-foot-4 Charlotte native will have to sit out next season per NCAA transfer rules and will then have two years of eligibility remaining.

Haywood had high-major interest and listed Cincinnati and Coastal Carolina as his other finalists. He joins point guards Malik Pugh and Jordon Talley as the Seahawks’ latest additions. Talley and Haywood were both on campus for official visits Thursday. It’s a good sign for the new staff to land pledges from a pair of players with plenty of options elsewhere on the same day, backing up Keatts’ reputation as a strong recruiter.

Barring any further movement, UNCW is at its maximum of 13 scholarship players for next season.

Haywood said he made the trip to UNCW expecting that his first campus visit might be his last, encouraged by his quick rapport with Keatts and the new staff. Talley made a commitment to Keatts on Thursday morning but Haywood waited to make his pledge until after dinner Thursday night at The George. A celebration ensued in a parking lot near the downtown riverwalk.

“Man, it felt like I won a basketball game,” Haywood said. “We was hype and all excited. It was a very special moment, man. It’s definitely a moment I’ll embrace and remember for the the rest of my life.”

A product of Harding University High School, Haywood blossomed into a key contributor at Jacksonville right away. The guard started 56 games in his two seasons with the Dolphins and averaged 16.1 points per game in 2013-2014 to earn a spot on the All-Atlantic Sun second team. He announced plans to transfer after Cliff Warren was ousted as coach, following a 12-18 season.

“There were a lot of things that I would have had to adapt to, and I just felt like the situation wasn’t best for me,” Haywood said, explaining his decision to move on.

Outside shooting was a consistent weakness for the Seahawks this season, and the team graduates its top shooter in Tanner Milson. Haywood can help there. He shot 51 percent from the field, including 41 percent (33-of-80) from 3-point range. He’s a pure scorer, a boon for a team that often struggled to create in crunch time last season. He also posted 4.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game at Jacksonville.

Haywood said he wants to “polish up my jump shot” and improve his ball-handling as he waits to make his Seahawk debut. He’s hopeful he can do his part next season by pushing his new teammates in practice. He signed his scholarship agreement on Friday morning and plans to be on campus for the first session of summer school on May 19.

Though he grew up across the state, Haywood had never been to Wilmington before this week. He said Keatts sold him that the ingredients are in place to reverse the fortunes of a team that has lost at least 20 games in five of the past six years.

“Everyone is very supportive,” Haywood said. “They’re anxious to see UNCW turn their program turned around, and I feel like that’s a special thing to be a part of.”

UNCW has yet to officially announce any of the additions. Pugh, who had first committed to former coach Buzz Peterson, signed and sent his National Letter of Intent last month, while Talley and Haywood both said they signed on Friday. Without discussing any specific players, Keatts previously indicated he could wait and announce his first recruiting class all at one time. It now appears to be finished.

So ready for this new beginning. Ready to attack this life and conquer success.

That 2014-2015 roster actually looks really solid, assuming Malik can come in and provide solid minutes immediately. We have the opportunity to utilize good athleticism and length at the wing and in the front court. I know this will be Keatt’s first year but I think this roster can play his style faster than I initially believed.

I’d rather rebuild than get “immediate” help. I know nothing about this Keatts guy and we will see if he can coach. But I do like that we get a player who was being recruited by State, Cincy, Temple and Richmond as opposed to weak 200+ ranked small schools. All write ups on this guy say he is a steal for us.

As I read the article above, all I see is a positive development for the Hawks and is not a political forum. Coach landed us a great find for 2015-16. As for Chuck, cudos to you for an honorable run for office!

@BDC and JIM,
You guys funny and you would see Hawks best player in 2015-6 than 2014-2015.??
I know we all have plenty of time.
Javis seems like a good player but I would rather see immediate help than wait.
Seems we are burning 3 years of scholarship for two years of play and only Football and Basketball fools think this way.
Our other sports do not have this luxuary but it has been so long since we won…….what the heck just one more year!

As far as my election I garnered 388 votes..
388 more than you and this was just a testing the water’s thing.
Like to see you run??
Ha Ha Ha…

I AM PULLING FOR HEATS but be guarded remember 3 years ago and Buzz’s great 8 recruit class?
Where are these stars now?

I am still very surprised that we have not had some attrition, I was hoping for a couple more spots to open up, I cannot see a couple of our front court players being able to work in the system that Keatts has proposed. We still have nobody on the team that can shoot the ball. I like what we have brought in but still hoping for more but we seem to have a huge glaring weakness for a larger shooting guard that can actually shoot

@Jim
my 388 probably triples Seahawk Club membership and now University trying to run off Chancellor Miller who retained 5 sports last year for University Students-Athletes-Atmosphere this place has become a BIG JOKE.
Sad to say as Gary a class act , UNCW getting like a carnival just many new acts every day!

About This Blog

Hey there, I’m StarNews staff writer Eric Detweiler, and I handle the UNCW beat. I’m a Pennyslvania native who went to the University of Maryland and came to Wilmington in August 2013 after stops in Denver and Washington, D.C. Feel free to reach out with questions or comments about our coverage of the Seahawks. Thanks for reading.